


The Joy of Being Alive

by savethepinecones



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Fluff and Angst, M/M, Post-Season/Series 04, Pre-Relationship, Prompt Fic, im bad at titles so sorry about that whoop, like immediately after the last episode ends, the prompt was joy and yeah theres a bit of angst as well but i think it fits well enough over all, vldshipfest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-07
Updated: 2018-01-07
Packaged: 2019-03-01 15:05:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13297407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/savethepinecones/pseuds/savethepinecones
Summary: Landing was a bit more difficult than usual with the ship being as damaged as it was, but Keith still managed it. As he left the ship, he was surprised by Matt practically launching himself at Keith and hugging him. The momentum forced Keith to take a couple steps back, and he let out a surprised laugh as he returned the hug.Takes place in the Garrison Days universe, which aligns with canonverse through season four. The Garrison Days series does take place prior to canon, so this technically not part of the series, but it's being included anyways because it is the same universe, just later on. That being said, this is the last fic chronologically in that series. For now, at least.





	The Joy of Being Alive

**Author's Note:**

> This is for Week One of the voltron ship fest. The link for the tumblr is https://voltron-ship-fest.tumblr.com/ if anyone wants to check it out. There are two ships highlighted every month, and I'm really looking forward to some of the upcoming prompts! Math is one of my favorite vld ships right now, so I was really hyped to work on this. I'll add more details about the ship fest in the end notes. Enjoy!
> 
> I'd also like to thank my beta, Cactus. They're really great and I appreciate their help so much.

Keith turned off his comms. Lotor was trying to make some kind of alliance or something with the Coalition, and quite frankly, Keith just wasn’t willing to listen to the entire process of all of the Coalition leaders and Lotor somehow coming to an agreement. It would take hours, and Keith was exhausted, both physically and mentally.

He stayed there for a minute, just in case someone tried to contact him and tell him to turn his comms back on, but no message appeared. As he’d hoped, since he wasn’t one of the leaders, he didn’t really need to be a part of the conversation. Breathing a sigh of relief, he turned his stolen Galra ship, and it slowly limped over to Naxzela.

When he was about halfway to the planet, a ship he recognized as belonging to the rebels that Matt was working with pulled up next to him and slowed. A light signalling an incoming communication appeared on his dash, and he sighed as he pressed the button underneath it. He wasn’t about to ignore whoever was on this ship, but he was certain that they were going to tell him that he needed to join the others, and maybe even insist on escorting him back.

However, the face that appeared on his screen wasn’t a random rebel. It was familiar, and human.

“Matt,” he said, surprise overwhelming the small amount of eloquence that he usually possessed, and temporarily rendering him unable to say anything else.

“Keith.” Matt greeted him. There was a slight pause as neither of them said anything and Keith quickly recovered from his shock.

“I’m not going back to the others.” He said after a moment, a hint of stubbornness creeping into his voice.

“Yeah, I figured.” Matt said lightly, unphased by any hostility Keith might have been radiating. “I just thought you might like a lift.” He nodded toward Keith’s ship. “Once that thing lands, it’s probably not leaving the planet, and as much as I’m sure you’d like to stay away from that mess of negotiations behind us, you’d probably like to join back up with the others eventually, right?”

Keith nodded. “Yeah, of course.”

“Well, you’re gonna need someone to fly you back, and since no one else noticed you leave or knows where you’re going, it looks like that someone is gonna be me. That is, if you’re okay with that?”

“Yeah, that’s fine.” Keith told him. “Thanks.”

Matt smiled. “No problem.”

Keith waited a moment to make sure Matt didn’t have anything else to say, then cut off the communication, leaving him with nothing but his thoughts and the noises of the ship as it cruised through space with Matt’s ship by its side.

Landing was a bit more difficult than usual with the ship being as damaged as it was, but Keith still managed it. As he left the ship, he was surprised by Matt practically launching himself at Keith and hugging him. The momentum forced Keith to take a couple steps back, and he let out a surprised laugh as he returned the hug.

“Are you okay?” Keith asked after a moment when Matt still hadn’t let go. While he wasn’t an expert on hugs, he was pretty sure they didn’t usually last this long. He didn’t mind it, though.

“I was so scared, Keith.” Matt whispered, burying his face in Keith’s shoulder. “I was so fucking terrified that you weren’t going to make it in time, or that the ship wouldn’t be enough to penetrate that shield and I was going to lose all of you. I thought I was going to be alone again, and there was nothing I could do to stop any of it.”

Keith tightened his grip. “I’m sorry, Matt. I didn’t think-”

“No, don’t apologize.” Matt interrupted. “You did the right thing. There was no other way to get that shield down. As much as I would have hated to see you sacrifice yourself in order for that to happen, we didn’t have any alternatives.” He pulled back somewhat, holding Keith by his shoulders and looking him in the eyes. “You were doing what you had to do to save everyone. There’s no reason to apologize for that.”

“No, I mean-” Keith paused, trying to think of how to explain what he was trying to say. “You’re right. There wasn’t anything else we could do. I’m not apologizing for trying to take down the shield, but I am sorry that I scared you so much in the process. I wasn’t thinking about how it would impact individuals, I was just trying to save as many people as I could.” His arms dropped from Matt’s sides and he looked down. “Voltron, the Coalition, they all would have been destroyed. The Galra Empire would have won the war. I couldn’t let that happen, even if it meant I had to die to prevent it.”

Somehow, saying that out loud made it more real. He had been about to die. If Lotor hadn’t showed up when he did, Keith would definitely be dead right now. He wasn’t sure what expression he was making, but whatever it was made Matt lead him over to the rebel ship where they both sat down, Matt leaning back against the hull while Keith opted to hunch forward, pulling his knees to his chest and resting his head on them.

“I almost died.” He whispered.

“Yeah.” Matt said, just as softly. “But you didn’t.”

“Only because of some crazy stroke of luck, though. Next time I might not be so lucky.”

Matt reached forward and began rubbing Keith’s back soothingly. “Well, yeah. That’s true. But no amount of worrying now will change what’s gonna happen in the future.” The hand on Keith’s back paused for a moment before picking back up again as Matt continued talking. “You know, when I first started working with the rebels, I worried about everything. I worried about my dad, and Shiro. I worried about my family back home: how they reacted to my disappearance, how they coped with their grief, if they’d moved on. If the Empire had gotten to Earth yet.”

He leaned forward until he was even with Keith, looking at his profile. “But I realized that none of that would change anything. Knowing what was happening wouldn’t change it.” Matt took a deep breath and leaned back again, resting against the ship and looking up at the sky. “All I could do was hope for the best.”

Keith turned his head slightly so he could look at Matt out of the corner of his eye. “Hm. That’s interesting.” He said thoughtfully. “I usually just plan for the worst. At least that way when something bad happens it’s not completely unexpected. If I were hoping for the best, every time something goes wrong, I’d be crushed. But if I expect the worst to happen, I’ve either already come to terms with the outcome or I’m pleasantly surprised. I don’t have to worry about being disappointed.”

“You’re disappointed either way, though, aren’t you? It just happens sooner if you assume the worst immediately. Yeah, I’m gonna be disappointed when something bad happens, but it never hurts to have hope,” Matt said.

“Yeah, I guess.” Keith said.

“Basically, what I’m trying to say is, don’t just resign yourself to dying in space. There’s a chance you’ll get through this war, but even if you don’t, you’ll enjoy the time you have left more if you’re hopeful. There’s no point in worrying about something that you can’t change right now. Focus on what you can influence, and leave everything else to worry about later.”

Keith leaned back against the ship, and Matt moved his arm to Keith’s waist to avoid having it crushed between his body and the ship. “Thanks. I think that does help a bit.” Keith said quietly.

“I’m glad. I just want you to be happy, you know? And if you’re always expecting the worst case scenario, you’re just gonna be stressed and worried all the time. It’s good to just focus on the present every once in a while. Just appreciate joy of being alive.” Matt said, holding Keith’s waist just a bit more firmly as emphasis.

Keith smiled and leaned his head on Matt’s shoulder. “You’re good at cheering people up, you know that?” He asked after a minute.

Matt laughed lightly. “Yeah, I’ve been told that on occasion. Lucky for me, I had a bit of practice back on Earth.”

Keith hummed in response, and the two of them sat there in silence, both lost in their own thoughts as they took the time to come to terms with everything that had happened in the last several vargas. Both had had close brushes with death, and no matter how cheerful of an outlook they adopted, they wouldn’t recover from that immediately, but they took comfort in each other and the knowledge that they wouldn’t have to face the future alone.

**Author's Note:**

> Ship fest information in case anyone's interested:
> 
> The ships for this month are hunay and math. I'm gonna try to split the ships as evenly as possible, so for January, I'll be writing two oneshots for each ship!
> 
> There are two prompts each week. They're not connected to a specific ship, so they can be used for either one. This week's prompts were Joy and Free, and I decided to use the prompt Joy, although I suppose Free could have been integrated into this just as easily.
> 
> The link to the tumblr is https://voltron-ship-fest.tumblr.com/ and there's some really great art on there from various artists who are participating! I haven't seen any other fics yet, but I'm hoping there will be more soon.
> 
> There aren't any sign ups or anything for this, so if anyone's interested in participating in this year round or even just for a specific ship, it's not too late! All you have to do is tag your content with vldshipfest so I or Cactus (the mods for this event) will see it.
> 
> Any kind of content is accepted, so even if you don't write fanfic or draw fanart, if you want to do something else, like make edits for example, you can!
> 
> Feel free to drop by the tumblr and ask questions!


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